TPT May 2012

T echnology N ews

Robotic flange to tube welding cell WHEN Dutch company Kranendonk was asked to assist with improving the weld quality, flexibility of production, and cycle and delivery times for pipe sections it responded by implementing the world’s first robotic flange to tube welding cell. bespoke pipe infrastructure in the offshore, shipbuilding and petrochemical industries. This innovative system consists of four simultaneously operating robots mounted on a travelling track.

flanges with special tooling. During pick-up the integrated vision system determines the position and orientation of the flange. The vision system compensates for dimensions of the tube and aligns the flange onto the tube. Two small robots tack the flanges to the clamped tube. After tacking, the tube is rotated at welding speed while all four robots simultaneously weld both flanges. After completion, the tubes are transferred to the output buffer. The production line is operated by one operator using its full graphical operator interface. The menu structure and push buttons of the ARAC software automatically guide the operator to the right command to perform a certain task. Combining the high accuracy, the faster delivery time and the easy control the system contributes to increase of productivity and more grip on your production process.

Using vision technology the robots automatically position, tack and weld a wide range of flanges and sockets to tubes of any desired length. The information that is

The flange to tube cell is a robotic production system for assembly and welding of flanges and sockets to tubes for

required for the system is loaded from the CAD- design. Since the pipes will be bent afterwards the deformation is calculated before hand. The pipe is sawed on the correct length and based on the deformation information the orien- tation of the bolting holes is calculated. Two large robots pick up the

Kranendonk – The Netherlands Website: www.kranendonk.com

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M ay 2012